It may take some cutting and sorting through our mental bullshit reasons we keep telling ourselves. But if we dare to be completely honest with ourselves, we’ll realise that happiness is the ultimate goal – our true desire.

Every thing we want is for one reason only – we want to feel happy! That’s it! Whether ‘it’ is a new car, better job, more money, better body or relationship of any kind. We believe we’ll feel happier afterwards.

Maybe. Maybe not.

In either case – it is an outer circumstance. A condition that we can not hope to control most of the time, or at all.

We are victims or slaves of these circumstances. That is not freedom. Without freedom there can be no happiness.

Trying to gain happiness from outside-in is an unsustainable approach at best.

But we have to go that path at least initially, to ‘get it out of our system’ and consciously realise that that is not the right approach.

When we finally ask ourselves “how can I be happy now, regardless of the circumstances?” – then our path really begins. Then we are ready for some major inner work.